Whitt's End: 3.18.11

Whether you've reached the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End:

*Couple weeks ago I circled tonight's Mavs-Spurs game at American Airlines Center in anticipation. Now? No biggie. After dropping games it should've won to Memphis, New Orleans and Portland, suddenly Dallas is closer (3.5 games) to falling behind Oklahoma City than to catching San Antonio (6.5 games). Looks like another 50-win season, a third seed and ... well, by now we all know the drill. If Caron Butler comes back, we'll re-visit.

*Wanna know the quickest way to turn your March Madness bracket into toilet paper? Pick Louisville to go to the Final Four, then suffer through what happened to the Cards yesterday. Morehead State gets all the warm-n-fuzzies for hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in the final five seconds. But Louisville rolled out the red carpet for that miracle, making only seven of 16 free throws (including a missed one-and-one that set up Morehead's final possession) and having best player and leading scorer Preston Knowles leave the game with a sprained ankle with 8:51 remaining and his team up by four. If that sounds like sour grapes, you're very perceptive.

*Love me some Rangers' manager Ron Washington. After Wednesday night's 11-10 loss in Surprise in which relievers Mark Lowe, Darren O'Day and Seth McClung got raked around the yard, I poked my head into Texas' clubhouse and there was the skipper, getting a haircut.

*Hard to tell who's saying what when it comes to the nuclear scare in Japan. On CNN yesterday they had opposing scientists, one saying it's an epic problem looming and the other shrugging and saying it's all contained. If we're getting radiation at D-FW Airport from inbound Tokyo flights, I'd say it's troubling at the very least. Check that, it was from medical equipment.

*I won't watch ESPN's "Fab Five" documentary because it's nothing other than the glorification of style over substance. Those Wolverines, despite all their bravado, never won a conference championship, much less a national title. If you liked Michigan and think they actually changed anything, you're probably cozy in trendy Dallas. By the way, great read by Jason Whitlock. Bravo.

*In the Rangers' media guide Chuck Greenberg is listed first and his photo/bio/profile is No. 1 as well. People here in Surprise are tight-lipped, but there doesn't appear to have been any one incident that caused the epic fallout with Nolan Ryan. Just a general difference of philosophies. It's like they had a wildly successful honeymoon, only to have the wedding annulled.

*I grew up reading a sporty comic strip called Tank McNamara. I think there's a place in the metroplex for a daily online sports comic strip, or perhaps that's the dumbest idea I've ever had. I dunno, I think I'd spent a minute on that site every day.

*As I've said before, I give up trying to figure out Rick Carlisle. He plays Corey Brewer the first three minutes Wednesday night against Golden State, and then only three minutes the remainer of the game. And a night after sitting for a long stretch of the fourth quarter in Portland, Roddy Beaubois plays a season-high 37 minutes in Oakland. I know there are matchup considerations and Golden State is a small, quick team, but there's something to be said for consistency, no? And, by the way, it sure is quiet from all those critics who bashed me for saying Brewer was a no-impact pick-up. His next play will be his first?

*Few things in life give me frown-face more than John Fogerty's voice. And in Surprise you hear "Centerfield" every dang day.

*This weekend? Once back from Surprise, Arizona, let's keep one eye on March Madness and two hands on the keyboard. Time to hunker down on a Texas Rangers cover story for the print version of the Dallas Observer, scheduled to hit stands March 31. Don't be a stranger.